Seeing with new eyes
by lunarcow97
Summary: Nick Fury calls in an extra agent to assist in finding Loki and tracking down the cube. Avengers plus OC. Part one of eyes on fire.
1. Chapter 1

When I first met Nick Fury my leg had just been amputated above the knee and the doctors were telling me about my options. He swept into the room like the specter of death, I watched him as he took my doctor to the side and they whispered. I wasn't surprised he had come to see me, I expected someone to find me eventually. I joined the army because I wanted to use my gifts to help people, I dropped out of med school to try and escape the inevitable but it had finally found me.

I had joined the bomb disposal specialists because I knew I could find the bombs. I have always been good at finding things, I can see things no one else can. In the blink of an eye my vision switches and suddenly so much more is visible. At any moment I can switch my eyes and see things differently, I can see through walls, see the electricity that connects all tech, watch the shift of bone and muscle, or find IEDs beneath the dirt. Watching the signals bounce back and forth through the air I can catch one and break it's connection, or create a new one.

"I figure you were expecting me to find you." Fury tells me as he takes a seat next to my bed. Throwing one leg over the other he rests his hands on his knees and looks at me serenely.

" I was hoping I could run a little further first, but I think it will take a little while to get back to that." I reply shrugging, the grenade hit that took my right leg had hit our humvee barely a second after I caught sight of it. There had been no time to warn anyone as we were throw about. Lying in that bed and watching Fury's eye take in my state, I knew my in the military was over.

"I want you to work for me, I can use someone with your...gift. You have served your country well and now you can serve the world."

" Why do I get the feeling I don't really have a choice."

Sitting at the counter at a small diner in the middle of nowhere I ate my pie one small bite at a time. The waitress smiled at someone behind me and I turned to see the eyepatch I knew so well. Taking the seat beside me Nick let out a sigh as he asked gently for a slice of the apple as well.

"How is the eye?" I ask him sweetly, after joining his gang of spies Nick and I were more friendly towards one another, I knew I was just an asset but he convinced me that I was just as important as my gift.

"Fine, how is the leg?" He replied with a smirk, he thanked the waitress for his slice of pie and turned back to me with a frown. I turned my chair away from the counter and motioned him to get on with it.

"A being who goes by the name of Loki took the cube from our facility and subsequently demolished the entire area. I need you to come in and see if you can track him or the cube. I know you have heard of the avengers initiative, I think it's time we added you in." He stated as the crease in his brow furrowed and his lips turned down at the corners. Nick had told me about the cube after I helped him track down the captain, an item with so much power would be devastating in the wrong hands. Pulling out my wallet I settled the check and grabbed my jacket. Tugging on the sleeves we headed to the door and I told with a smile.

"Do I get a new uniform?"


	2. Chapter 2

Taking the quinjet to the helicarrier was quiet and I used the time to adjust the settings on my prosthetic, I'm half sure it was created by Stark just from how high tech it is. Originally it had a tracker in it but when I found it I had a staring contest with Nick that ended with a panic button instead. It took a while to get used to having such a huge change to my body, so many of the movements I took for granted have changed. With some minor adjustments to the shock absorbing quality I can better prepare for whatever Nick needs me to do.

"We should be the first ones back, the others will take awhile to fall in." Nick says, he reclines into the plane and he relaxes for the long ride back. I like planes. I get the chance to watch as electricity flows through one bit to another. I find myself lost in scanning the plane, letting my eyes wander over the pieces.

I blink back to the world as we set down on the deck. Getting out into the open I watch as everyone scurries about and salute as we walk past them. Turning around I open up my eyes and look over the edge of the ship and out to sea. When we take off I could see miles and miles of clear sky. I wonder what I could see if I looked at the ground from so high. When we get inside I skip up to Nick and keep in step with him. With a big smile on my face I see his eyebrow raise before he steps into the control room and schools his features.

"Agent Maddog, you will help your new teammates, when they arrive, to locate Loki and the tesseract. Until then please study the files and familiarize yourself with the cube."

He says over his shoulder as I sit at the large table in the command center and scroll through one of the screens. I look at him after a second and watch him look out over his agents and order them about. _I like this a whole lot like than the army._ I think to myself. The screen I am at displays the files for the other avengers, Captain America, Black Widow, Ironman, Hawkeye, and the Hulk. I kept track of Bruce for awhile, made sure general Ross stayed off his trail. I followed him from Nigeria to India and from India to the Philippines.

The Captain was an interesting guy. When Fury was losing hope of finding him he asked me to take a look at the case. Following the trail I lead the team right to him, watching as they excavated him from the drowned plane. Seeing him in the ice reminded me just what having powers meant. You protect people until you die or you get taken down. When I was told he was revived all I could think of was how much more he had to suffer now. But that doesn't matter, now that he is here he gets a second chance at life. Hopefully he gets something more than just SHIELD. The other folks I am not worried about, I have worked with Natasha and Clint before and Stark isn't all that intimidating when I could probably turn off his suit.

With I sigh I lean back and keep an eye on the windows. This whole deal is bigger than my usual job. I tend to work recon, tracking, or guard duty, this is dealing with a wayward power hungry God. Getting back to files I skim over the tesseract, looking at videos won't help me. I pick up what I can and move on to Loki. A few paragraphs in I hear chatter over my shoulder and turn my chair to see the four people approaching.

Doctor Banner hasn't changed much since I ended my tracking assignment a year ago, the Captain hasn't either. Natasha and Phil are a happy sight and I smile at them from my seat.

"Hi guys, how was the flight?" I ask as they look around and walk fully into the room. Banner looks nervous, understandably so, whereas Rogers looks almost at ease. Natasha sends me a wink and a nod from across the table. I can't imagine how angry she must be at Clint being taken, losing your partner is an incomparable experience. Phil seems to gravitate towards Rogers, knowing him I hope he didn't fanboy out too much.

"Smooth sailing, it's good to see you Kel." Phil says with a smile and I nod back at him, Phil is a great guy and missions with him always go smooth. Fury turns back to us and Rogers walks up to him and looks out over the balcony, passing him some money. I catch Fury's smile and turn back to the files. Coming back to the table they all sit down and Fury starts the briefing.

"Captain, it's good to have you back, I don't believe you or doctor Banner have met agent Maddog yet. Codename pathfinder. She is a tracking specialist within SHIELD, she is responsible for finding you in the ice and keeping Ross of _your_ back." He says, looking at each of them in turn. Roger's eyebrows rise and he looks at me with surprise, I smile and nod to him in acknowledgement. Banner has a crease in his brow and I know he isn't too happy with being tracked.

"You can call me Kel, it's a pleasure to meet you both. Sorry about revealing your location doctor Banner, I understand why you would want to hide from us."

I say quietly, Banner shrugs and I let my attention return to Fury. Nick and Natasha walk back over to the control panel and computers.

"As of this moment we have facial recognition software searching for any sign of Loki or our friend doctor Selvig. When we find a match Captain, Natasha and Pathfinder will go and capture him. Doctor Banner will stay here and begin searching for the cube." He tells everyone, the captain nods and Banner fiddles with his hands as he is led to his lab. The techs continue typing away and Natasha taps away at her commandeered computer. Humming to myself I watch the flow of electricity through the computers and into the ship, the bright blue of the signals weave together before my eyes. Rogers makes his way over to me and I offer him the chair next to mine.

"Even with all the spectrometers set for gamma rays and the facial recognition software it will take some time to find them." I lean over and tell him. Scooting over I gesture to the screen I had been using, scrolling back to the top. " I recommend looking over at least the basic files. Maybe Barton and Loki's to start." I suggest with a shrug, his expression changes to confusion and his eyes roam the screen without reading it.

"I wonder if I will ever get used to the new technology." He says with a shake of his head. He looks at me with an apologetic smile and I smile back with understanding.

"It is a lot to take in. I can understand how it feels to wake up and see your world has changed," I say with a head tilt, rolling up my pant leg I show him my shiny metallic prosthetic. His eyebrows rise and he opens his mouth to apologize but I shake my head to continue. "It isn't the same I know, but sharing makes it easier to connect to new people. Your file was shared with a lot of people but you probably haven't seen our records." I finish, pulling my pants back into place and stretch my legs out of reflex.

"I appreciate that." He says with a coy grin. "So many people know who I am and I don't know anyone here. How did you lose the leg? If you don't mind my asking of course." He asks politely. He seems to genuinely want to know so I don't take offense. I am sure he has seen plenty of similar injuries from the war.

"I was in the army's bomb disposal unit and our convoy got hit by a grenade launcher. It happened so fast I couldn't do anything." I answer with my eyes on my hands in my lap. Remembering it I wish I had been keep a better eye out.

"What do you mean? You can't stop a grenade when it's coming at you." He says with a frown. My hands lock together and I keep my eyes on them as he gives me an assessing look.

"I can see things differently than other people, when it comes to IEDs or grenade launchers I can see inside the mechanisms and cut the connection that makes it detonate. It works with other signals too, I could shut off the Internet to a computer or stop someone's pulse. It comes in handy when scouting." I explain in a rush, even though he has powers too it can be hard to tell people you could stop their heart. I look at him as he takes it in and looks away from me. "I don't like hurting people, I tend not to if I can. Mostly I track people by their scent trail or heat signature." I add half heartedly. His eyes come back up to mine and he gives me a half smile.

"How do you _see _someone's scent?" He asks with a huff of laughter, trying to break the tension. I smile at him and let my nerves out with a giggle.

"Everyone has their own pheromone mixture that is visible on some spectrum, I can see that mix and find people by following the trail of the pheromones that are left behind. My friends used to call me their personal bloodhound." I tell him with a grin, his answering grins lets me know we are good. Thankfully it is right then that a technician lets Fury know he has Loki's location. Turning to Rogers and I Fury gives us the go ahead.

"You're up captain."


	3. Chapter 3

The ride to Germany was quiet as we got ready to take Loki. Steve was in his star and stripe uniform with a thin helmet that obscured his features and Natasha was in her usual black catsuit. Out of my street clothes I wore my tight armored jacket zipped up tight and tactical pants that clung close to my skin. On my belt I had a leg holster for a gun and a few pouches for things like smoke capsules and zip ties. I was in the process of braiding my long brown hair to keep it out of my face.

"Almost at drop zone Cap, you better hurry while he monologues." Natasha shouts back at us. With a nod he leaps out of the cargo bay and blocks an attack by Loki. I glance back and get a nod from Natasha before jumping out and landing a little ways off from where Steve faces Loki. The two struggle and I clear civilians as I try and scan Loki. If I can see whatever 'magic' he is using I can try and cut him off from it. I watch them from near enough to step in and roll through the basics. I look at Loki with his heat signature, his pheromones, I try the electrical impulses from his brain and even gamma rays but I haven't looked for magic before. Cap struggles and I almost step in but the music that blast the air stops me.

"Stand down Reindeer games." Stark orders from his armor. Steve and I walk over to him and Loki and I watch them exchange greetings as I restrain the God.

"And who is this beautiful woman with the psychedelic eyes?" Tony asks as we walk back into the quinjet and strap Loki in. I roll my eyes that have gone back to their normal brown and sit down across from the prisoner. He must of noticed them changing color as my vision changed.

"It's nice to meet you , I'm agent Kelsie Maddog, code name Pathfinder. But friends call me Kel." I tell him as I reach to shake hands, we clasps hands and he gives a firm squeeze.

"It is a sincere pleasure to meet you Kel." He says with a lascivious grin, I huff out a laugh and smirk at him.

"Friends call me Kel, you can call me pathfinder." I tell him with a grin, Steve tries to hide his laugh but Natasha just lets herself guffaw. Stark frowns at us and huffs in annoyance, but I get the feeling he wasn't hurt by our fun.

The trip to the helicarrier is quiet a bit longer but it doesn't feel right. Steve turns to Stark and I and tells us so.

"I don't remember it being that easy, that guy packs a wallop." He says with a frown. Tony smirks but I get the same feeling. Looking back at Loki I tune out the rest of what they say and try to scan him again. I can faintly make out some kind of connection between him and the spear, but there are many other threads of power anchored to him.

A crack of thunder snaps me up right and I look at Loki as he startles.

"What's the matter, scared of a little lightning?" Steve asks sarcastically, Loki smirks as he replies.

"I'm not overly fond of what follows." At which point a loud thud sounds from the roof and we all look towards it. Tony opens up the back door to get I look and I stand with a hand on the rails to stay in place. In through the door lands a man in a red cape who throws Tony and Steve aside to grip Loki.

"I can't let you take him!" I yell over the rushing wind as I reach to grab the man's arm. As soon as I touch him a wave of electricity shoots up my arm and knocks me back, the man frowns at me and flies out of the jet with Loki in tow.

"And now there's that guy." Steve says with a grimace, I get to my knees and wince with the last tingles of sparks. Tony locks down his faceplate as he marches to the open door. Cap reaches out to stop him, tells him they need a plan. But Tony turns away with a flat,

"I have a plan, attack." As he jumps off after the man in the cape. Sitting down on a bench I grab onto something as Natasha attempts to keep Steve on the plane. Of course he too jumps off and leaves us silent except for the howling wind. Natasha closes the door and we head back around to park a ways away and wait the boys out.

"Are you good? Getting hit by lightning can't of been pleasant." Natasha asks me over her shoulder. Looking at the hand that I grabbed him with I roll up my sleeve to reveal strange half healed burn marks in the shape of a knot work hammer. I scratch at it idly as I check to see if my leg was fried. Of course it is.

"My leg got fried so walking is gonna suck for a while." I reply tersely, getting used to a prosthetic meant going around with a broken one was about as hard as walking with a crutch. This one had lasted me two years worth of gunfights and hard landings, my first two years at SHIELD it felt like I needed a new one every month.

"Have you tried turning it off and turning it on again?" She says with a smirk. On one of our mission in Saudi Arabia we had gone through the desert and my leg had stopped working because it was clogged with sand. She had to help me walk back to base, which was about twenty miles of sand dunes. After that we would always crack jokes when my leg broke down, just to relieve the panic of not being 100% in a danger zone.

"Won't work, the bolt fried the wiring so I'm going to need a new one. I wonder if Stark can make something that isn't painted red and gold." I yell over to her from my bent over position on the bench as the door opens. I decide I may as well take the useless thing off and flick off the latches that hold it on. Most people have a stump and a completely prosthetic but mine comes with a built in base that directly attaches to my nerves so I can control the leg with precision. An added benefit for working with SHIELD.

"Woah there gorgeous what's with the break down?" Stark says as he walks in the jet and heads my way. Steve comes in behind the man in the cape who drags Loki back to his seat. Steve frowns as he looks at the smoking leg that I hand over to Stark when he makes grabby hands.

"Big guy fried the circuits when he zapped me, I am sure I have a low tech spare somewhere. Did we work out the issue? Are we all good?" I ask the guys as the plane takes off. Stark nods absently as he sits and tinkers with my leg, Steve and the big guy seem more sure about their nods and I sigh with relief.

"You have my apologies for any damage I have caused you my lady, I knew not of your enhancement." The big guy says with a hand to his chest and a bow of his head. Raising an eyebrow at Steve he smiles and shakes his head. "I am Thor of Asgard, I have come to stop my brothers nefarious scheming and bring him to face justice." He says with a firm nod, his eyes are distant and the corners of his mouth tug down slightly. He may be sure of his duty but I doubt he is too thrilled about having to stop his brother.

"I am Pathfinder of SHIELD, my companions and I also hope to stop Loki, I do not know if our leader will allow his return to Asgard for justice but I believe he will listen to you." I reply steadily, he doesn't talk like we do so instead I try to mimic his style. He nods thoughtfully and it seems to of made it easier to persuade him. Steve looks at me and over to my leg in Tony's lap, open with a screwdriver poking and prodding it. I shrug and pat the seat next to me in invitation. He sits heavily next to me and leans his head back. I close my eyes as the whir of the jet lulls me to sleep and hope no more surprises are headed our way.


	4. Chapter 4

When the quinjet lands Steve nudges me awake and I shake off my nap as the door opens to a team of guards. One of the agents walks over to me and hands me one of the spare prosthetics Natasha called ahead for. The one they found for me is probably the simplest model SHIELD has, simple joint and leg that reminds me of the ancient ones they found fossils of. I take it with a frown and thank the agent who lets me know I am to go with them to Loki's prison cell by Fury's request.

Steve stays while I get the prosthetic locked on and offers a hand as I move to stand. I give him a smile as I take his hand and try and adjust to the new leg.

"I hate switching legs, it feels completely wrong." I mutter to him as I take a careful step towards the ramp out. Thor, Stark and Natasha wait with the guard unit at the base of the ramp and keep a careful eye on me as I slowly walk down the ramp. Steve's hands stay near me in case I fall but we make it down without incident and I grin at them as they relax.

"I got this, no biggie." I tell them happily, I thank Steve and wave to the others as we go our ways. The guards that surround Loki lead us through the helicarrier to a holding cell that hangs above a trap door. After depositing Loki into the cell the guards leave and I wait for Nick. The cell intimidates me and I hope I never get on SHIELD's bad side, people with powers get locked down so tight it would make you wish for normal solitary confinement.

"I wonder what they will do when you see too many of their secrets." Loki says from the bench in his cell. I walk over to the rails around his cell and lean on it to take some pressure off the spare leg. Loki's question is something I have thought of before, they have a plan and I know it.

"I don't talk to people who are actively trying to enslave my planet." I reply blandly, he shakes his head at me and I zone out to get more information. Back in Stuttgart I thought I saw some connection between him and the copies. Some green energy that covered the copies and tied them to Loki. Looking at him now and scanning for that green energy all I find are faint lines of it wrapped around him, nothing connected to the outside. I go over the other scans just to cover the basics. I check his heart rate, neural impulses, pheromone ID, and body heat.

"Why are you so cold?" I ask without thinking, his body heat is far lower than a human's or Thor's. As soon as the words are out of my mouth his head snaps up and he glares at me so hard I think I hear him growl. What an odd reaction, why would so simple a question throw him off? I tilt my head to the side and look at his skeleton and muscles. Other than the body heat he looks human, but in his bones I see a faint weave of shimmering gold. If the green energy is his magic maybe this is someone else's. If I get a better look I can disrupt the magic and see underneath it.

"Why would someone put an enchantment over your appearance so deep it runs in your bones." I wonder aloud. At this Loki does snarl and lunges for the wall of the prison. Win his fist clenched against the glass his gaze bores holes in me and I take a step back. He grins and relaxes as he sees me waver but his hands still fist.

"Why didn't you kill him when you had the chance? Why did you let him live to hurt another." Loki growls from clenched teeth. His eyes alight with mischief when I inhale sharply and step back again. If he has Clint he must know what is in my file. That means he knows about my fathers abuse and that he ended up killing my mother. He knows that even though I could of killed him, I didn't. And my mother died as a consequence.

"How weak must you be to let a man like that live, how afraid to use your power that you didn't even keep your mother safe." He continues, I watch him step away from the wall and stalk to his bench. I watch him smile at my look of shame and I turn away from him.

"Pathfinder, report back to the bridge." Fury says as he enters the room, I drop my gaze to avoid the anger in his eye and scurry away without looking back. I don't bother listening to them threaten and tease. I walk slowly through the plain hallways and think about the past. Loki knows what my file says, he doesn't know what really happened. Yes my father hurt me, hurt my mother too, but I don't feel ashamed of not killing him. I don't use my power like that unless I have no choice. I don't want to become the monster he said I was by hurting people. My father had powers too, he could manipulate the way people felt, he could cause excruciating pain or the weight of guilt and shame. He used his gifts the make people do what he wanted and hurt them if they didn't. His power corrupted him and he said mine would make me a monster too.

My body feels heavy and the legs are tired, I lean against a wall and wonder if he was right. I work with assassins and spies and tell myself I do the right thing. I tell people secrets so others can use them, I have become an accomplice to the wrongs that SHIELD does in the name of security.

Sighing and getting off the wall I continue towards the bridge until I see Tony and Coulson headed the same way. I nod to them and we walk into the briefing room together. Stark finishes a sentence we overhear and makes his grand entrance while Phil and I quietly melt into the room. I take a seat next to Steve and lean back in the chair. As Stark and Banner continue talking science Steve leans over and quietly asks how I'm doing. I shrug and turn away as Tony compliments Bruce on his hulking out.

"Uh thanks." Bruce mumbles as they shake hands. Tony continues to babble science terms until he reaches Fury's command center where he pretends to be in charge and just makes an ass out of himself. Agent Hill glares at him and huffs as he makes fun of Nick.

"When did you become a master of thermonuclear dynamics?" She asks him bluntly, his jovial smile turns to her and he grins wider as he replies like the smart ass he is.

"I went over Selvig's notes, did no one else do the homework?" He asks the room sarcastically. Thor perks up at Selvig's name and visibly relaxes.

"Selvig, as in Erik Selvig?" Thor asks in his deep resounding voice, without his armor his arms look huge and I admire the way his muscles look.

"Yeah, the astrophysicist, he was mind controlled with one of our own." Natasha explains from her chair on my other side. She raises an eyebrow at me and looks pointedly at Thor's arms, she must of caught my looking. Thor shakes his head.

"He is a friend." He says quietly, well, quietly for a Thunder God. Tony continues his rant until he comes back around the table and moves Natasha's chair over so he can sit directly next to me.

"So crazy eyes, how do you feel about lasers in your new leg?" He asks me with an eyebrow wiggle, I frown at him dangerously and he backs off with his hands raised.

"Mr Stark, so nice of you to join us, you will be working with doctor Banner and agent Pathfinder to track down the cube." Nick says with a glance my way. From the look on his face I'd guess letting Loki talk to me had been a mistake. He takes his place at the head of the table and tells the group we need to figure out his plan.

"I wouldn't trust a word that guy says, his brain is a bag of cats. You can smell the crazy on him." Bruce says with distaste. Thor turns to look at him and his body stiffens with tension.

"Have care how you speak, Loki may be lost but he is still of Asgard. And he is still my brother." Thor says with a frown, I can understand how he feels. Sometimes you can't help caring about the people who hurt you. Natasha raises an eyebrow and looks at Thor questioningly.

"He killed 87 people in the last two days." She says with finality.

"He is adopted..." Thor replies slowly, I smile at his quick save and turn to Fury.

"What I want to know is how he turned two of my best men into flying monkeys." He tells us angrily, the room quiets. Except for Steve who lights up at Thor's confusion over the reference.

"I get it!" He shouts excitedly. Everyone looks over o him as he shrinks back into his chair. "I understood that reference." He finishes shyly. I smile over to him and offer him a high five discreetly, he smiles and returns the it. Fury raises an eyebrow but continues.

"Stark, Banner and Pathfinder, the lab is already prepared for you." He says, hinting for us to get a move on. I nod and make to get up and slowly move the spare leg out from under the table. Steve offers a hand and I take it gratefully, with Banner and Stark in tow we head out towards the lab.


	5. Chapter 5

The lab was shiny and bright, Tony and Bruce were working away and bantering playfully. I sat on a stool by the scepter and watched. Tony's chatter didn't make it to my ears as I looked at the scepter and scanned. The blue energy from the ball on the scepter spread tendrils out to where I hope the tesseract and our missing allies are. One of the strings went up and away, so far that it was stretched to a thread, I have no clue who or what it attaches to. The thickest, nearest, connection lead towards where Loki was being held, lending him power even from here, or draining. The other tendrils connected slightly farther away, maybe a few miles at best, all grouped together except for another lone two threads that were farther off to the west.

Something about the last connection seemed stronger than the others, something shimmered along it and drew the eye. Looking at all the connections I saw something faintly inside the sphere, something that I had to get just a little closer to, just a little bit and...

"Are you insane!" Steve shouts from the doorway to the lab. Coming back to myself O look around to see what the commotion is for. Tony stands a little away from Bruce holding a small device that looks sharp."Is everything a joke to you!?" Steve says angrily as he marches towards Tony.

"Funny things are." Tony replies sassily, he struts around the table and grabs a snack from his bag. Steve snarls and shakes his head, Bruce and I share a tired look as the two argue. Walking over to Bruce I look over his shoulder at his screen that is running the search program.

"Doctor?" Steve asks Bruce, arguing is not my thing so I stay out of the way. I lean on the table and watch the back and forth.

"I just want to do my work," Bruce tries to escape with but Tony tells him to chip in. "If all he is looking for is a new clean energy source why not bring in Stark, why wait to call him in." He says slowly, Stark offers him a blueberry for participating and Steve glares at them both.

"Steve, Fury does what he believes he has to, he uses everything at his disposal to further his cause. I trust him, I do what he tells me too, but that doesn't mean I don't question the other things he does. He hides things from everyone." I add evenly, Steve turns his glare on me and I just raise an eyebrow. Knowing Fury there are things he isn't telling us. There are things maybe he can't tell us, Steve doesn't want to question orders but things aren't like he is used to.

"We have orders, we should follow them." He says, turning to the door and marching out. I send an apologetic look back to Tony and Bruce as I rush after him. When I manage to catch up with him he frowns at me and crosses his arms over his chest. With a sigh I point in the direction of the cargo hold and we start walking that way.

"I get that a good soldier follows orders, when I was in the army it's just what you had to do. They didn't sign up for that though. Tony, Bruce and Thor were on SHIELD's radar and were given the choice of joining or being locked up or worse. Tony is an ass but he has a point." I tell him as we walk further down the empty hallway. Steve doesn't reply immediately but when we got to the door he stopped and looked me right in the eyes.

"I don't like it, hacking them isn't the answer." He says, I nod and wait as he mulls over how to continue. "I don't know Fury and my gut tells me he is hiding something, right now we don't have any standing orders so looking into it sounds like a good idea." He finishes. I nod again shut down the doors locks and all the cameras in the area.

"I agree with you Steve, we can do this your way." I tell him honestly, he gives me a smile and we head into the large open room. The walls are lined with large metal crates and there are walkways on either side that are empty at the moment. Steve gives me a nod and we split off to search either side of the room. We each open up dozens of crates and when Steve flips up onto an upper and lifts a lid with a surprised face I hurry over. Inside are weapons and files from the Second World War, Hydra weapons from when Steve was put on ice.

"Why do they have these? Why would Fury bring these?" Steve asks out loud, I watch him as his face twists in disgust and confusion. I keep an eye out for the guards as he grabs one of the guns and wraps an arm around my waist to carry us both down to the lower level and we walk back out. Steve rushes ahead to the lab and he gets there before me as I get stuck behind a handful of agents block my way. When the agents disperse I walk into a lab in chaos.

Everyone is yelling and insults fly. I look over them all and my eyes land on the staff, the energy emanating from it draws me in and I find my legs moving towards it without my bidding. The team's voice fades to background and all I can see is the staff as my feet take me closer to it. Reaching out to it I watch it's energy weaving throughout the room and tie into agents on their way here on a quinjet. I see the sparks of energy from within Mjolnir and the twin sparks within the burn mark on my right forearm. The staff's energy has anchors in everyone's heads and in my minds eye I pull them gently out. When all the hooks are gone I feel hands on my shoulders and someone shaking me.

"Kelsie, Kelsie snap out of it!" Steve is yelling at me when I blink away the staff. Everyone is staring at Bruce who has the staff in his hands, I sag against Steve as a wave of nausea hits me. Bruce puts the staff back down and I try to warn everyone as an explosion rocks the room and throws us back. Steve looks to Tony and tells him to suit up and gives me a pat on the back as they rush out.

"Agent Maddog secure the prisoner!" Fury calls to me as he rushes towards the bridge. Looking past him to the agents running through the halls I turn away and head to the nearest weapons locker. Behind me I hear the distinct roar of the Hulk and I freeze mid step as my head whips around and my heart begins to race.

"The Hulk is in play, I repeat, the Hulk is in play."


	6. Chapter 6

For a year and a half I was in charge of keeping an eye on Bruce Banner. Anywhere he went I went too. In that year and a half I only saw the Hulk once, and that had been enough. While he was in Nigeria there had been an incident with some armed gunmen who wanted control of the village he had been working in. When guns went off and lives were threatened the other guy came out. Hearing that roar brought fire to my veins that made me run.

Hearing that roar now in the helicarrier I don't run from it as I had before. When I hear the Hulk my head turns and my feet lead me towards the sound of disaster. I can see the gamma that the Hulk contains and I follow it through the halls of agents running the other way.

"I have the Hulk, Natasha what is your status?" I asks over the comms, I can hear her harsh breathing and I run faster as I get closer to them. I slide down the stairs and slide around a corner to see the Hulk backhand Natasha into a wall.

"Hey! Over here big guy!" I yell over to the towering behemoth. His large eyes find me and he swings around to face me. His muscles bunch and I raise my hands to show that I have no weapon.

"I know you want to get out of here, why don't you let me help you?" I tell him slowly. His face doesn't change and one of his huge fists comes my way. I slide under his out stretched arm and run past him through the open area of the hangar bay. I can hear his foot steps behind me and I try and look for a big enough area to talk him down. The steps behind me stop suddenly and I feel a large hand wrap around my middle and lift me to face the Hulk eye to eye. His grip on my doesn't quite stop my breathing but I can feel it bruising my ribs.

"If you turn back no one will attack you, we don't want to hurt you or Bruce." I tell him with a wheeze, his nostrils flare and he shakes me in his fist. I raise an arm and point to the open air of the hangar bay.

"That's a way out, but we are really high up, you might not make it. If you turn back I will take Bruce away from here. I promise." I tell him again. His grip on me loosens and I can see his breathing slow down as he considers. He is about to put me down when something rams into us from the side and I am thrown down and roll away. The floor makes for a hard landing and my bruised ribs protest as I look to see Thor trying to subdue an increasingly angry Hulk. I can hear Fury prepare to order a jet after Hulk and follow after the two as they fly through a wall and back into the lab.

"Thor! Get back to Loki!" I yell to the God as I grip his arm and a bolt of energy sparks between us. Hulk gets up from a pile of rubble and I push Thor out the door. Watching Hulk he growls at me and I raise my hands again and try to give him space.

"I'm sorry, he didn't know. If you stay like this people are going to try and hurt you. Let Bruce come back and no one will try and hurt you." I say again, I look at the gamma that has built up inside him and as he moves towards me I pull the thread that connects the Hulk to the radiation. As soon as I have a mental grip on the gamma he stops in his tracks. With a little pressure he suddenly sits down and starts to blink heavily. I take a step closer to him and try and keep a steady pressure on the gamma. I hear static over my comms and try and listen to it as I see a jet appear in front of the lab windows.

"No! Call back the jet!" I scream as I lose my control and time slows down. Everything happens at once as the Hulk grabs me and the jet opens fire on us. Glass falls to the floor and Hulk holds me to him as he gives his back to the window and growls at the bullets. The jet stops firing for a moment and Hulk turns in a second and launches himself, and subsequently me, out and towards the jet.

Falling through the sky I allow myself a scream of fear and close my eyes as we hit the jet and Hulk tries to rip the pilot from his ejector seat. The plane falls away from his and I grab onto the Hulk as he realizes what has happened. Two large hands envelope me and bring me in close to an enormous green chest. Surrounded by green muscle I fall from the sky and feel the my world turn as we flip through the air. I keep my eyes clenched tight and curl into the warm hands that shield me as I feel my stomach turn with our movements and hope he can survive this. I can hear the air whistle past us and I open my eyes to look up into the Hulks face as he growls.

It takes only seconds but it feels like forever that we fall. When we land the earth quakes and splits upon our impact. The Hulk crashes deep into the ground and the final force of it opens his arms and flings me to the side into the wave of bricks running from the crater. As the world goes black I hear Hulk groan and see his green hand twitch from the edge of the crater.

I guess he can survive that kind of fall


	7. Chapter 7

The world comes back slowly, first is the sound of someone calling my name. After that I can feel hands on the back of my head and checking my pulse on my wrist, when I can I open my eyes and see a worried face looking back at me. Bruce watches my pupils and I take a second to check my injuries. Probably a broken rib or two, my back is gonna hurt tomorrow and it feels like my left arm and leg got a bit scraped up. Back of my head feels a little wet with blood but I figure the relief on Bruce's face means it isn't too bad.

"Not my favorite landing ever, we should work on that." I tell him with a croak. I pull myself to standing with a hand and I look around us to the empty building full of pigeons and a tired looking security guard. I smile kindly to the man and give Bruce's hand a squeeze.

"What's the plan big guy?" I ask as I settle back into the world, he knows where the tesseract is so if I want to save the world I have to follow him. He shakes his head and gives the older man an apologetic smile as he asks if he has a car. There is no car but he offers us the use of his old motorcycle and I hop on behind Bruce as we thank him and tell him we will try and bring it back.

"You know you're crazy, right?" Bruce yells to me over the rushing wind. I laugh as I throw my head back and grip him tightly.

"I figured why not give it a shot, worth taking a chance." I reply with a smile, he shakes his head and speeds up as he hit the interstate and wind our way towards Stark tower. I try and call in on my comm but it got broken I the fall, much like I expected. The air is freezing as it blows past us and I huddle closer as it bites at my exposed hands and face.

The drive takes half an hour and getting into the city center we pass panicked people rushing to flee the flying aliens. Smoke rises from buildings and people scream all around us. The closer we get to the tower the more flying creatures we see that shoot at civilians and swoop low to attack whatever they can. I only have a few clips of ammo so I wait and hold off on wasting any.

The bike putters us to the rest of the team and we walk over to join them.

"Well this all looks terrible." Bruce says as he looks around. I nod to the group and check my guns as we assess the situation.

"I've seen worse." Natasha replies, I look over to her and smile when she admits that worse might be good. Steve grips my shoulder and raises an eyebrow at me in question. With a roll of a shoulder I let him know I'm good to go. We both turn as Tony flies by and brings with him a giant alien worm creature soaring towards us. Bruce steps up to the plate and I hunch down near Steve as the ground shakes and the Hulk lands a swift punch to the big ugly's face.

"Alright, call it cap." I hear from the comm Barton hands me, looking around I wonder if we will win this. We circle up and I stand tall between Thor and Steve as he takes a moment to decide.

"Alright, Hawkeye I want you up top calling out patterns and looking for strays. Thor you have the lightning, light 'em up. Tony you have the perimeter, anything gets past Main Street you turn it back. Pathfinder I need you to find us some weaknesses, get as close as you need and find the soft spots. Natasha and I will stay on the ground and fight them here. And Hulk, smash." He commands with a nod to each of us as we split up. Tony takes Clint and Thor offers me a hand so I can get a better look at the worms that are coming through and carrying the smaller ones. With a tight grip on my waist Thor takes us upward to the Chrysler building and drops me onto a lower level to find a view. When he reaches the top a deep rumble fills the sky and I can feel the electricity in my bones as he calls down lightning and aims it at the portal.

As I look out at the attack I zoom in on the worms and scan them head to tail. I relate all the details of their skeleton to the group and then continue on to all the other ways to scan them. It takes some time but within two minutes Jarvis has all the information and is calculating a perfect attack. Fliers whizz past me and I lean back away from the railing as the wind pushes against me.

"I'm going to get a better look at the drones, try not to shoot me down." I warn everyone as I take a few steps back. With a few deep breathes I find a target and launch myself towards the open air past the railing. I fall through air only a moment before I land on my intended alien and grip it with everything I have. Leaping off buildings is not the best idea, even if I know there will be something to catch me. The creature a reaches and tries to shake me off as I reach around it to grip the controls. A bullet to the head kills it just fine and I drop it off as I commandeer the flying scooter.

"Their thorax has a soft spot where the dermal armour plates meet. Looks almost like the solar plexus, a hit there would be ideal. Their heads work too." I let everyone know as I twist and turn my new scooter past other aliens and shoot them from the sky. Through the streets we twist and turn and I try and see them layer by layer. The sky is filled with the battle and I dive and swerve to avoid blasts as I loop back to the Stark building for a look at the portal.

A swarm of the fliers come towards me and I look about for back up. I see a blast coming my way and swerve milliseconds before it hits me. The swerve sends me towards one of the giant worms and I see Thor and Hulk pounding one of it's scales into it. I hear a whistle in the air as a blast hits the scooter and sends me flying through the air. A scream rips through my throat as I fall and I have only a second to damn the aliens before strong arms catch me and bring me close to hard armor.

"I have you my lady. I do not recommend attempting to fly on your own again though." Thor says as he lands near Steve and throws his hammer towards one of the creatures. I take out the closest aliens and take one of their spears as Natasha did.

"I don't think flying is really my thing." I reply as I blast an alien behind him. The fighting seems to continue forever and my eyes burn from over excursion. I have a headache pressing on my temples and I just want to take a time out. Steve and Natasha look tired and I look around at the team.

"None of this is going to mean a damn thing if we can't get that portal closed." Steve says over comms, I look up towards the hole in the sky and look through the distance to see the stars on the otherside.

"I need a closer look at the device, I might be able to shut it down. Can I get a lift?" I say with a heavy sigh. When I was in the army I always took the extra shifts, always stepped up to carry the weight, it's just something I do. I just wish I could take a nap before incurring the wrath of my headache. But I have something no one else does and that means that I have to step up where there is a need. It's what a hero does. Natasha catches my eye and nods to me with a grimace. There is a loud crunch behind me and I go perfectly still as I feel the ground shake with the Hulk's steps towards me. His large hand firmly grips me and holds me to his chest as he leaps up into the sky. Hulk lands and grips Stark tower with one hand while shielding me with the other and I think about how we must look. King Kong and his damsel in distress off to save the day.

The ground disappeared and Loki replaced it. We land hard on Stark's patio and the Hulk gently sets me down away from Loki as he steps towards the God. Loki begins his protest but is interrupted by a beat down by big green. I smile a little at seeing his discomfort but quickly take his staff and rush up the stairs to the roof. Dr. Selvig watches the tesseract as it emanates a field of energy.

"I can't stop it." He says as I approach him, he looks at me with a face full of regret.

"Go take cover down stairs doctor. I have this." I tell him firmly, he looks relieved to be given orders and scurries off to comply. Turning towards the machine I turn my inward gaze upon it. My eyes see the inner workings of the portal and my mind finds the way to shut it off. Were someone to see me they would find me looking off with a glow in brightly blue eyes that contrast my natural brown dramatically. Were they to shake me I would seem dead to the world, all my attention is focussed on the tesseract and disconnecting it from the portal device.

"I can shut the portal off. Do you copy?" I say as I tap my comm. The rest of the world seems faint as I watch the energy within the tesseract, just like the scepter it seems to draw me into it.

"Wait! I have a missile incoming and I know exactly where to put it." I hear Stark say, I can barely hear Steve argue with him as my grip on the connection strains and my breathing becomes ragged. Shiny red and gold flies through the portal and I wait as everyone holds their breath. There world stops as the order comes down and I cut the cord. When I let go of the tesseract it feels like I've been unplugged. My knees go weak and I end up on all fours as I struggle to stay awake. I hear the team rejoice over Tony's survival and smile as I hear his sass. No more aliens appear from the sky and the ones here are all dead. _I have never felt this tired, no more alien invasion for a while._ I think as the team heads towards me.

"I think I'm going to check out for a while here, I need a nap." I tell them as I crawl towards the stairs and grab the railing for support as I stand.

"What are you tired already?" Clint asks sarcastically, his voice is rough and I wonder how long ago he ran out of arrows. I'll smack him later, right now I just want to hobble down these steps and fall asleep on Tony's very expensive couch.

"I don't like shawarma anyways." I reply as I take the last step and make my way into the living room. In a crater by the couch Loki seems thoroughly contained so I ignore him and slowly, gracefully, flop onto the couch.

"Ha ha, we won." I tell him tiredly as I close my eyes and drift off to the sound of Tony flying in and Hulk landing with a crunch.


	8. Chapter 8-the end

I wake up with remnants of yesterday's headache and find my place on the couch surrounded by the team in various sleeping situations. Natasha and Clint are nested in the crater Loki left, Bruce is crashed on a loveseat next to Tony who he has haphazardly thrown a blanket over them. Steve rests against the wall with a pillow and blanket and Thor sits awake by the end of the couch.

"Good morrow my lady, I hope your sleep was well." Thor says quietly as I sit up and offer him the seat next to me.

"Indeed I slept quite well Thor, and you?" I ask in return, he sits close to me on the small couch and I feel the mark on my arm start to tingle. I itch it as he scratches his chin and looks out the broken window.

"I did not sleep this night, I could not ignore my worries over my brother's actions." He replies with a murmur. I watch him as he thinks and nod in understanding, it can't be easy to have your brother attempt to take over a planet and have to defeat him.

"I understand how hard it is to see people you love hurt people. I'm sorry Loki has hurt you like that." I tell him, I put my hand on his knee and suddenly sparks fly, literally. I snap my hand back and Thor looks just as surprised.

"My apologies, I know not what has happened." He says in a rush, I shake my head and remove my jacket to show him the mark on my right forearm. His eyebrows shoot up and I wonder if they can go any higher, they almost disappear.

"Do you know what this mark means? I got it when I grabbed you on the quinjet." I ask. He shakes his head and I look at it with him. The mark doesn't look quite like a burn anymore, it seems more like an old scar. The raised white lines weave the shape of a hammer and look almost like a tattoo in white.

"I have never seen a mark such as this. It looks similar to Mjolnir, you are connected to it or me, I know not how." He says quietly, his eyes look far away and I wonder what he thinks it may be. I trace the design with a finger and little sparks twirl through it.

"Whenever we touch there are sparks, do you know why? It seems strange, maybe it is just random." I ask him as I watch the trails of sparks. I get lost in the energy as it moves under my skin and don't see his thoughtful look as he studies me. His eyes travel over my face and across the mark.

"I am afraid yet again I know not the answer you seek. I only know it has not happened before." He answers, bringing me back to the moment. I shrug and lean back into the couch. Blowing out a breath I look out at the broken city and wonder how long it will take to recover from such a blow. Thor's hand reaches towards me slowly and when I meet his gaze he raises a questioning eyebrow and I nod my consent. Slowly he touches his finger to the mark on my skin and the energy within it swirls around the point of contact. I can feel heat radiating from his finger and try not to shiver as he traces the lines of it. The energy follows his finger until he completes a circuit of the design, the sparks fade into my skin and only the raised white lines remain. I look to Thor in confusion and he seems just as bewildered.

"Strange to be sure. I do not believe it shall harm you but when I return to Asgard I shall ask Heimdall what he knows." Thor tells me softly. I wonder briefly if he felt the heat too but it must of been my imagination. I nod to him and look away from his studying gaze. Usually I am the one watching people, it's weird to have him look at me like a puzzle. From the loveseat Tony turns over and snuggles closer to Bruce in his sleep. With quiet steps I walk over to the bar and find my phone, on it is message from Fury. He writes that we will be sending Thor and Loki back to Asgard later today and I have a new mission. He doesn't give details but says I have a partner and its long term.

"Sounds like you're headed home soon." I tell Thor as I sit back down. He nods his head and relaxes back into the soft cushions. My legs are tired from yesterday and I doubt the spare will last much longer, best to rest some more and wait for the others to wake up. Steve shifts in his sleep and I would guess he will wake soon. Steve is a nice guy, I hope after this he gets some time to adjust and make a place for himself. Bruce will probably run again, despite Stark's offer to stay. The spies and I will go back to the way things were and scatter over the globe with different names and covers. _Looks like we are breaking apart as soon as we finally got together._ I liked having a team, I would have preferred more time with them but we are all wanderers. We don't like to stay in one place.

"How did you lose your leg my lady?" Thor turns to me and asks, his face is open and curious, I wonder what Asgardians do when someone loses a limb. I think for a minute about how long ago it seems to have been, how easy it has become to tell the story.

"I was in the military, I used my sight to find explosives and get rid of them. One day when my team was driving through an area we had recently cleared we were hit with a grenade that destroyed our vehicle. Two of my team members died and two more were injured. My leg was trapped by shrapnel and they had to remove it to get me out." I say evenly, after telling it to Steve yesterday it doesn't hurt to tell it again. The feelings and memories don't sneak up on me and all that's left is an acceptance of facts. Thor looks at me assessingly and I wait for his response.

"I have seen what damage explosives can do, disarming such weapons is a dangerous task. You are quite honorable to of used your skill in such a manner." We says with a grin. I smile back at him and relax the tension that crept into my shoulders. From the crater Natasha and Clint shift and stretch as they wake up and I figure we should get ready for the send off.

"We should wake the others up, will you get Bruce and Tony for me?" I ask Thor sweetly, he bows his head and heads off towards them. I doubt Tony is much of a morning person. I walk over to the wall and crouch next to Steve, with a light shake on his shoulder his eyes pop open and he looks ready for another battle. _What I wouldn't give to have super recovery._ I think as he rolls his shoulders and shakes off the sleep. From the love seat we hear a loud shriek and many apologies followed by a shamed looking Thor sitting heavily back on the couch.

"Did Tony yell at you Thor?" I ask him as Steve and I join him. He nods his head and frowns over at the billionaire. I shake my head and pat his back. When I make contact only the smallest of sparks runs up my arm but it's enough to make me withdraw immediately. No one seems to notice as the sit around the circle of chairs and rub sleep from their eyes.

"Fury wants all of us to meet him and transfer Loki in Central Park in about an hour and a half. We will be sending him and Thor back to Asgard then are free to go our separate ways." I announce to the group. Bruce looks relieved and gives a sigh at the news. Steve, Clint, Natasha, and I know it won't be long before another mission and don't feel as freed by it. Tony just smirks and walks over to the bar.

"Oh well, so nice to know you. Do drop by for tea sometime." He says sarcastically, he has his smirk in place and I feel the urge to smack him. Tony can be fun, but sometimes I don't need that kind of attitude. With the orders done everyone moves off to get ready and plan their next move. I remain between Steve and Thor as the seconds tick by, all I want is to enjoy this break between crazy.

I must have fallen asleep as when I open my eyes next everyone is pulling coats on or checking weapons. Steve has hand on my shoulder from gently shaking me awake and I nod my thanks as he walks off to get his stuff. I stand up and stretch my arms over my head. Or I try to. When my arms go up I hiss in pain and pull them back down quickly and wrap them around my ribs. The team's face turn to me and I try to chuckle it off and grab my jacket but Natasha has a hand on my wrist quicker than Thor could call Mjolnir. She presses gently on my ribs one by one till she finds the two that make me wince.

"Two broken on your right side, we will have to wrap them. Clint had three bruised, don't worry we didn't all come away unscathed." She says, the second half quiet enough so only I can hear. I guess I'm not the only one jealous of the healing. "Come with me and we will fix it. We will be back in a minute." She orders, her tone makes everyone nod quickly while she drags me away. I mouth _help me _to Steve and he grins mischievously as he shakes his head. Natasha leads me to a bathroom with an open med kit on the counter and makes quick work of removing my tank top. With precision she tightly winds the medical tape around me and is done in thirty seconds flat. She smirks at her work but freezes when she sees the mark on my arm.

"You didn't have that yesterday morning." She says quietly. I shake my head in acknowledgement and wonder if I should keep it a secret. "It looks like a stylized version of Thor's hammer." She says with a raise of her perfect eyebrow. I nod in agreement and bite my lip to keep from spilling the beans. I don't even know what it is, it's better if I keep it secret for now. She seems to contemplate forcing the issue but with another look at the mark she sighs and shakes her head. "It's a nice tattoo." She says with emphasis, giving me the cover that tells me she doesn't need to know.

"Thanks." I answer, I hope I convey what I mean and it looks like she understands my gratitude. She leads us back to the group and we all head out for the short walk over to the park. The sky is bright and the clouds frame the sun nicely. Tony and Bruce are chatting and Clint and Natasha are smiling to each other. The walk goes quickly and I find myself wishing it was longer as we come upon Fury, Loki, and other agents. I realize then that this is goodbye.

"Hey Thor, I'm glad we had a chance to work together. I hope to see you again soon." I turn to tell him. He smiles brightly and offers his hand. I hold it tightly as little sparks work up my arm and a warmth spreads through my chest. I am filled with a sense of safety and the thought that this isn't the end. We smile a moment at the shared sparks and I release him reluctantly. I stand next to Steve as Thor takes Loki and the tesseract. With a final nod they disappear and I take a moment to stare at the empty space. Fury walks over to Steve and I with a file in his hands.

"I have a mission for the two of you." Fury begins as he hands Steve the file. He flips it open and the first page is a list of names and places. "Those are the last known locations of those missing agents. Your job is to track them down and rescue them if possible. You need to keep a low profile and not be recognized so we have prepared covers and whatever else you might need. Return to the helicarrier for your gear and you start tomorrow." He directs us firmly. Steve seems content to chase after lost agents and I wonder if Fury is giving him this assignment as a way to get back into the world. The look on Fury's face is solid as stone and just as unreadable. I do love a good road trip.

"Where do you want to start?" I ask Steve with a grin. He wears a matching smile and checks the list again to decide.

"I think I'd like to go to France, I hear it's beautiful this time of year." He replies while walking over to the waiting motorcycle. He reaches out to me with an excited grin and I climb on behind him, wrapping my arms around his middle tightly.

"France here we come!"


End file.
